Conversations Between Professors
by KeepSmiling1
Summary: Professor Dumbledore has a theory. He hopes Professor Xavier can help him out. Jean Grey and Minerva McGonagall need a raise.


A/N House/Team: Badgers. Class Subject: Charms. Story Category: Drabble. Prompt: [Crossover] X-Men. Word Count: 1556

"I'm to meet with who?" Jean Grey asked exasperatedly. For all that she would follow Professor Xavier to hell and back, sometimes he really did drive her up the wall with these schemes of his.

"His name is a Mr. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. He runs a school in Scotland, and more to the point, he has a degree of political power that he is interested in using to advance mutant acceptance within his community. I believe he will wish to meet with me shortly to discuss an...exchange program of sorts. Yes, should the topic come up, do bring him back to the mansion in short order." Professor Xavier replied calmly.

"To...to the mansion? Are you sure that is wise? Shouldn't the meeting be in a more neutral location?" Jean Grey breathed through her nose. Losing her temper wouldn't get her the answers she wanted. True...keeping her temper only increased her chances slightly, but it was better than the disappointed head shake.

"Don't worry, my dear. I assure you the situation is quite mad, and the only place that might possibly be more appropriate would be his school."

"Mad?"

"Mutually Assured Destruction, Jean. Mutually Assured Destruction. Professor Dumbledore has his secrets as we have ours. As it stands, he stands to lose a great deal more than us were he to go sharing what secrets of ours he may discover in these halls. Now, you're set to meet with him and the school's deputy headmistress in 38 hours at this address. Do try to get some rest once you get to Britain, my dear. All will be well."

"With whom precisely are you meeting, Albus?" Minerva McGonagall asked bristling. Honestly, Albus Dumbledore was one of the most infuriating men she knew. Not a week ago, he had used his wise and benign leader persona to pass a strange bill that protected the rights of some minority she had never heard of. Now he was planning to meet with someone she had likewise never heard of in the name of "international goodwill". This wouldn't concern her except she was the one who kept her friend and employer's schedule from overlapping too ridiculously, and he dared spring this on her a day before this hush-hush meeting.

"You do realize that the meeting with the board to discuss finances is tomorrow, right?...Right?"

"Not to worry, Minerva. The board meeting will finish in plenty of time. Your precious schedule is not at risk. In fact, why don't you come with me? Ms. Grey holds a similar position as you in a fairly new school in the States. I believe you would get along fabulously!" This got Minerva's attention. She began negotiations.

"Is her boss certifiably insane?"

"Quite possibly."

"Do any of their students get into half the trouble of our brood?"

"I heard a rumor that they have students whose idea of a good prank involves fire and ice."

"Will there be firewhiskey?"

"I'm afraid we're meeting at a little pub in Muggle London. I imagine they would have a good scotch though."

"Eh, it'll do."

By the end of that first initial meeting, Jean Grey learned that witches and wizards were most assuredly NOT magicians (weird point to get insulted about but not too insane), magic WAS real (considering some of the powers she'd seen, not surprising), and magical folk seemed to have no real understanding of science. She had also found a kindred spirit in Minerva and _shudder _Professor Xavier's equal in Professor Dumbledore.

Minerva McGonagall had learned of the existence of mutants and that mutants and wizards each wore a certain type of muggle pants that tended to clash horribly if worn at the same time (why anyone would wear an 'X-jean' and an 'M-jean' at the same time, Minerva hadn't the slightest clue). Apparently, Professor Dumbledore had seen something that made him think some of their students were committing this fashion atrocity underneath their school uniforms, and he was interested in either sending those students away to America for their education or have some of their teachers come to Hogwarts to resolve the issue. Honestly, Albus seemed to become more addlebrained each year though it certainly got worse when the Weasley twins started coming. Sending Albus on a wild goose chase for another scotch at the overcrowded bar, Minerva decided to enlighten her new friend on just the sort of man Albus was. Ms. Grey, being as frustrated with her boss as Minerva was with hers, suggested a sort of...revenge.

As for Albus? Everything was going according to plan. Sure it took forty minutes to hunt down the appropriate beverage, but the ladies seemed to be getting along well. Wait, why were the women grinning at him like that? He needed a new wardrobe if he was to go to the United States? Whatever for? Surely he could simply use an international portkey. Travel in a jet? What? What? But this fucsia robe had seen him through some of his toughest meetings! Surely he could keep his hat. Please? Please?

By the time Albus was buckled into the mildly terrifying jet that was flying without any magic whatsoever, he knew that he had been outmaneuvered. A harrowing eternity later, they finally touched down, and Albus got his first look at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. It was time to put his game face on.

Meeting Albus Dumbledore was both refreshing and mildly disconcerting. While his thoughts were not completely silenced as could be found in the case of Magneto and his helmet, legilimency apparently quieted his thoughts significantly enough that they weren't screaming at him. Xavier had been looking forward to this meeting ever since a rather unique bird had come a-visiting with the letter. In some ways, Professor Dumbledore looked very much like the stereotypical wizard. In other ways, however, he looked positively normal. Ah, Jean and a Minerva McGonagall seemed to be to blame for that. Xavier felt mild concern. He hoped that this Minerva would not come for a visit. Somehow he doubted that their...revenge… would be limited to Professor Dumbledore if Jean's wicked grin was any indication. After a light snack for the two men, discussions turned to the purpose of their meeting.

Apparently, muggles recently discovered a new gene, labeled the M-gene, that seemed to correspond with squibs and other magic folk who were in the muggle world enough to have their DNA examined for irregularities. Unspeakables had come to the conclusion that this gene essentially identified those who could perform magic (for even squibs had a small quantity of magic which could be used for potions and other such non-wand-based magics) from those who couldn't. The unspeakables had learned that much but not gone any farther. After having heard about the X-gene and mutants accidentally, Albus did some research of his own and came up with a theory. M-gene was exclusively found in magical folk. The X-gene was viewed as a purely muggle phenomenon. Albus...Albus did not believe that that was the case. Certain students...didn't quite fit the rather wide range of normal magical ability found at Hogwarts. Further, Albus believed that the two genes sometimes fought for dominance causing one or the other to be almost completely suppressed. He believed that to be the case with Neville Longbottom. The boy's skills with plants frankly befuddled Professor Sprout. Albus believed that these skills could possibly be due to an active X-gene, and his problems in his other subjects were due to the X and M genes fighting. The Weasley twins were another possible candidate. While many identical twins in the magical world had some degree of connection, the twins took it to another level, and it seemed as if they were only really able to excel if the magic was in some way connected to pranking. Harry Potter was another example, and perhaps the one that he was most concerned about. The boy was able to achieve things seemingly via magic that should be impossible. In spite of this, his academics seemed to indicate a lack of understanding that simply did not mesh with what the boy accomplished year after year. There were others as well, students who were quite capable magically speaking but who seemed to have that extra spark or incident that didn't quite make sense.

On the whole, Xavier felt that this rather unique theory had potential. He had a few students of his own whose powers seemed to step out of a specialty during times of crisis. Most of the cases that Professor Dumbledore was describing didn't really seem to match any case of the X-gene that Xavier knew; they honestly sounded like cases of students who didn't apply themselves. Nonetheless, he agreed to do a search for the children that were listed. If they were mutants and he could help them, he wanted to do so after all. Neville Longbottom ended up being a mutant as was Harry Potter. The twins seemed perfectly ordinary though if a bit troublesome.

Albus tested the children whom Xavier had in mind, and in the end, it was decided that a sort of exchange program could be beneficial. It wouldn't do to have it this year since Hogwarts would be participating in some Triwizard thing, but next year was a possibility.


End file.
